Pearls are at their basic level calcium carbonate spheres formed in the mantle of a shelled mollusc. But they are collected and treasured as expensive artefacts and worn often as a status symbol. They are ranked along with the finest gems in terms of collectability. So what is all the fuss about?
Pearls have been seen as a prized possession since ancient times. Records relating to pearls are found in historical writings of many cultures including India, China and Egypt. Chinese writings record pearls being popular 4,300 years ago. Indeed the Roman craze for pearls was typified by emperor Caligula when he had a pearl necklace made for his horse.
Pearl beds are most commonly found in the Persian Gulf, the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Central America and off the cost of Japan. Chinese pearls are primarily fresh water pearls from rivers and ponds. The traditional method of obtaining pearls were to dive in the sea and collect oysters individually. Each oyster would be opened and the vast majority would reveal nothing. The 18th century colonial approach of the European major powers also had a bearing on the popularity of pearls. Spain principally looked to Central/South America, Britain to the gulf areas and France to North America. In these regions pearls, amongst other things were an attraction, with the native Americans collecting their pearls from freshwater rives.
Then an Englishman by the name of William Saville-Kent (1845-1908) perfected the method used commonly used today of seeding the oyster with nucleus and then farming it. Cultured pearls as they are known come in vary sizes that are determined by the length of time they are left in the oyster to grow. These are given names according to size and development time:
Akoya 1 year
Tahitian 2-4 years
Freshwater up to 7 years
Naturally, the different types and sizes of pearl vary dramatically in price. The record is believed to have been $7.1m for the Baroda Pearl necklace (auctioned along with matching brooch and earrings) in 2007. By comparison a cultured freshwater pearl can be bought for just a few £’s. Historically pearls were considered ‘in the same league’ as gems. Latterly the value of pearls to gems has diminished.
We have a selection of pearl necklaces and necklace kits in both 1:12th and 1:24th scale